Vice Admiral Shuyama Matsuda, Chief of Staff of the Combined Fleet of the Japanese Navy, pushed the door in, did not report the situation, but apologized first, "Your Excellency Commander, I'm very sorry to disturb you for the long exam, I received a telegram from Vice Admiral Yoshiki Hirano, commander of the Seventh Army on the battlefield on Hawaii Island, and the department decided to disturb you after thinking about it again!" ”

His own chief of staff said so, and General Yamamoto was not happy in his heart, and he was embarrassed to get angry, but Yamamoto was also very strange, wasn't it a telegram from Lieutenant General Hirano, who didn't know the height of the sky, and it was worth being so nervous about Matsuda?

Yamamoto looked at his chief of staff and asked with a smile, "Matsuda-kun, what did General Hirano's telegram say?" Do you still ask us to unite the fleet and go around according to his combat intentions? Those guys in the army are just self-righteous! ”

Chief of Staff Matsuda hesitated for a moment and replied: "General, Vice Admiral Hirano did not ask us for anything, but his telegram contained a deep sense of reproach, blaming us for not intercepting the US Pacific Fleet in time, so that on the battlefield of Hawaii Island, the battle against the landing force of the US Second Army failed to achieve more results, and also caused unnecessary casualties to more than 5,000 soldiers of the Seventh Army!" ”

Yamamoto smiled coldly and said disdainfully: "Army generals have always been like this, they are accustomed to passing the blame for failure on others, leaving him alone, replying to him with a telegram, receiving the call, knowing the content, it's okay!" It's ridiculous, the Combined Fleet has its own operational plan, when did it become, and it had to act in accordance with the operational intentions of the Seventh Army? ”

However, Chief of Staff Matsuda obviously did not finish his words, and looked at Commander Yamamoto's nonchalant demeanor, and reminded anxiously: "General, these are not the main things, the key to the problem lies with, General Hirano said in the telegram that he has truthfully reported what happened on the battlefield on Hawaii Island today to the headquarters of the General Staff and the Admiralty Department of the base camp to suspect that General Hirano has complained about it?" If so, it will be very disadvantageous to you, General! ”

General Yamamoto frowned and asked with interest, "Oh Matsuda-kun, what are you worried about?" ”

Chief of Staff Matsuda replied with some apprehension: "Commander, General Hirano's results in blocking the landing force of the US Second Army, not achieving the expected goal, and causing the accidental death of more than 5,000 Imperial soldiers of the Seventh Army, are all on you, whether he is making excuses for his incompetence or not, Your Excellency Commander, you should send a telegram to the General Staff and the Admiralty in the base camp to explain!" ”

Yamamoto Go** glared at him and said nonchalantly, "Explain what?" There is no need for this, we have not received any orders, and it is not the turn of Yoshiki Hirano to cooperate with the battle plan of the Seventh Army, to point fingers at the Combined Fleet, pick and choose, and wait for him to sit on the throne of the commander-in-chief of the Imperial Pacific Theater of Operations! ”

Looking at his chief of staff, still in a very tangled posture on this matter, Admiral Yamamoto continued: "Matsuda-kun is too worried, a Hirano Yoshiki, can't make any waves in the Admiralty, and the General Staff will not have an unpleasant encounter with the Admiralty because of a telegram from the commander of the Seventh Army, rest assured that our attention now should be focused on the US Pacific Fleet, and I hope Matsuda-kun will not be distracted by such a trivial matter!" ”

Vice Admiral Matsuda thought for a moment, "Also, how can Commander Yamamoto's position in the Imperial Navy be shaken by a single Hirano Yoshiki?" The point is that there is no order from the base camp to cooperate with the Seventh Army in the battle, and on this point, Lieutenant General Hirano is not reasonable, it seems that he is a little unfounded! ”

Untying the knot in his heart, Chief of Staff Matsuda's mood also became happy, and asked: "Your Excellency Commander, what do we need to do at the moment?" Or do you want to keep waiting? ”

Admiral Yamamoto smiled reservedly and said: "Continue to wait for the fighters, Matsuda-kun, hunting requires patience, and without patience you can't become a good hunter, convey my order, the submarine team of the fleet will immediately go deep into the area of the US mainland route on the Hawaiian Islands, monitor the movements of the US Pacific Fleet in all directions, and tell them that no matter what situation is found, they will not be allowed to launch attacks on US warships without my orders!" ”

Chief of Staff Matsuda was a little puzzled and asked, "Your Excellency Commander, why didn't you send a reconnaissance plane?" In this way, the range and accuracy of reconnaissance are better! ”

Yamamoto shook his head and said: "Matsuda-kun, concealment, not letting the Americans discover us, is the primary condition for waiting for fighters, hunters must first hide themselves, not to be discovered by the prey, I have a hunch that the fighters that are beneficial to us are about to appear, that guy in Hirano, finally did something meaningful, the landing force of the US Second Army was heavily damaged, and it was no longer able to launch a frontal attack on the Seventh Army, what should the United States do next?" ”

Senior Admiral Yamamoto asked rhetorically, obviously to test the battlefield wisdom of his chief of staff, Chief of Staff Matsuda thought for a moment and replied: "Continue to increase the number of troops on the battlefield on Hawaii Island, so that we need the escort of the Pacific Fleet, and the commander, our fighters will appear in the US Pacific Fleet, on the way back to the mainland, ambush!" ”

Admiral Yamamoto was very happy that his chief of staff could keep up with his own train of thought, and said with appreciation: "I want to go west, Matsuda-kun, I have been studying the plan for a few days, and you have said it, but what I want is a greater result, not only a Pacific Fleet, but also the American Army. ”

Matsuda's eyes lit up, and he said excitedly: "Commander, I understand your intentions, the Combined Fleet is on the way to the battlefield of Hawaii Island in the US Pacific Fleet, escorting army troops, we ambushed, annihilated or defeated the US Pacific Fleet, those troop carriers that have lost their protection are lambs to the slaughter, generals, among all the generals of the Navy, only you have such a great courage to dare to make such a battle plan, the rank is full of admiration!" ”

Chief of Staff Matsuda sent sincere compliments, General Yamamoto is not fluttering, a commander's prestige can not be established by relying on the compliments of his subordinates, but by virtue of the victory of one battle after another, and the brilliant achievements again and again, he has achieved his prestige and proved his ability!

General Yamamoto waved his hand, stopped Lieutenant General Matsuda, and said with a word of admiration, "Matsuda-kun, follow my orders!" Matsuda gave a military salute and left with a look of reverence.

The cabin was quiet, and the corners of General Yamamoto's mouth hung a smile, "I'm looking forward to it, the hunting process, when waiting, it may be very boring, but once the prey enters the trap, when it is harvested, the excitement is something that ordinary people can't experience!" He thought to himself.

Vice Admiral Fallwood, commander of the U.S. Navy's Pacific Fleet, did not realize that he had become the prey of the commander of the Japanese Navy's Combined Fleet, Admiral Yamamoto, who had just received an order from the Joint Chiefs of Staff to immediately return to his homeland to escort the Second Army's second batch of reinforcements to the four divisions of the Hawaii Island Theater.

To be sure, Lieutenant General Fallwood was very dissatisfied with this order of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the situation of the Second Army on the battlefield on Hawaii Island was not optimistic, with 70,000 or 80,000 troops crammed into a narrow area of no more than 100 square kilometers, and if there were no naval guns and carrier-based aircraft of the fleet to support a fire protection net for the Second Army, the Japanese artillery shells would have been able to raze the landing field

Out of a sense of responsibility as a soldier, Vice Admiral Fallwood was deeply concerned about the situation of the Second Army, which had lost the fleet's fire support after the fleet returned to the mainland to carry out escort missions, and in this regard, he and Vice Admiral Harrison, commander of the group army, sincerely exchanged views, hoping that Vice Admiral Harrison could join forces with himself to persuade the Joint Staff to send other escort warships.

In fact, Vice Admiral Harrison, who is not Vice Admiral Fallwood, knows that once the Pacific Fleet leaves and loses air supremacy and fleet fire support, the Second Army will have a hard time before the second batch of reinforcements arrives, but he has to ask for more troops.

From yesterday to now, the sneak attacks of small Japanese troops, the nuisance of sporadic cold artillery, and the ghostly air raids of Japanese planes have already brought thousands of casualties to the troops, and a single shell or bomb of the Japanese can take the lives of more than a dozen or twenty soldiers.

Fighting out, it will require troops, so Vice Admiral Harrison faced Vice Admiral Fallwood's worries and comforted: "Commander Fallwood, you can rest assured that you can command the fleet to complete the escort mission, with the existing strength of the Second Army, on the front line of the landing field, support for a week, there should not be much problem." ”

"The Japanese want to eat our Second Army in one bite, and they don't have that much appetite! You know, I'm in dire need of reinforcements! However, Admiral Fallwood, I still have to remind you that the lessons of the former Pacific Fleet aircraft carrier formation in the waters of Midway to prevent the attack of the Japanese naval fleet are not profound! ”

It's all said and done, what else can Vice Admiral Fallwood say, the one hundred thousand people who urgently asked for reinforcements are the Vice Admiral Harrison sitting opposite him, not to mention, in the two days of entangled air battles, the fleet's carrier-based aircraft have suffered a lot of losses, and ammunition and fuel are also in urgent need of replenishment, Vice Admiral Fallwood knows better that in addition to his own fleet, I am afraid that there will be no decent escort fleet in China!

However, for Lieutenant General Harrison, the last almost warning words, Lieutenant General Falwood was full of feelings in his heart, and he could not refute it, the so-called "words do not speculate for more than half a sentence", the two lieutenant generals ended the conversation, each with their hearts to say goodbye.

In the early morning of 28 June, the US Navy's Pacific Fleet lifted anchor from Hawaii Island and embarked on a voyage back to the mainland.

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